Demonic (2015)

A police officer and a psychologist investigate the deaths of five people who were killed while trying to summon ghosts.

Director:

Will Canon

Writers:

Max La Bella (story), Will Canon (screenplay)

Stars:

Maria Bello, Frank Grillo, Cody Horn

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Bello	...	Dr. Elizabeth Klein
Frank Grillo	...	Detective Mark Lewis
Cody Horn	...	Michelle
Dustin Milligan	...	John
Scott Mechlowicz	...	Bryan
Megan Park	...	Jules
Aaron Yoo	...	Donnie
Alex Goode	...	Sam
Terence Rosemore	...	Jenkins
Jesse Steccato	...	Peter
Meyer DeLeeuw	...	Henry
Griff Furst	...	Reeves
Thomas Francis Murphy	...	Aberknacky
Ashton Leigh	...	Sara Mathews
Katarina Boudreaux	...	Martha Livingston

Storyline

In Louisianna,Detective Mark Lewis is summoned to attend a call from the notorious Livingston House and he finds three bodies and one survivor, John, who is in shock. He calls for backup and also the police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein to interrogate John. They learn that the team of ghost-busters Bryan, John's pregnant girlfriend Michelle, Jules, Donnie and Sam decided to perform a séance in the house, where the owner Marta Livingstone had committed a violent slaughter, to summon their spirits. The séance went wrong and released evil spirits that killed Jules, Donnie and Sam; however Michelle and Bryan are missing. While Elizabeth interrogates John, Mark and the technical team tries to retrieve the hard disks with the footages from the house to find where the other two survivors may be, Detective Lewis discloses a dark supernatural secret about John.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | house | missing | death | detective | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence/terror and brief language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

House of Horror

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, First Point Entertainment, IM Global

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In October 2013, the film's original title "House of Horror" was changed into "Demonic".

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Quotes

Donnie: I want to put a baby in you.

User Reviews

Demonic

Demonic is a film "presented by James Wan"... but not directed by him. Anyway, regardless of the director's identity, the main problem of Demonic is an atrocious screenplay which makes a useless effort to repeat the success of "haunted house" movies from the past. It wasn't a bad idea to combine supernatural horror, "found footage" scenes and police investigation in one film. However, the combination is done horribly in Demonic. The main plot of Demonic follows the police investigation from detectives Lewis and Klein, who examine the scene of the crime and interrogate the only survivor, trying to determine what happened at an abandoned house. Another narrative level is composed by the witness' flashbacks, in which we see the classic "ghostbusters" routine putting cameras on the wall and searching for supernatural manifestations in the dreary rooms and corridors. And finally, we have "found footage" passages taped by the previously mentioned cameras. That combination of formats and chronologies isn't done in a compelling way at all, and then, we have the obligatory twist at the end, which I found absolutely improbable and lacking of any sense or logic. I'm not going to reveal it, but it feels arbitrary, like a desperate maneuver to leave us with a final surprise, even if it has nothing to do with the rest of the film. I went to see Demonic with low expectations, but the presence of the solid actors Frank Grillo and Maria Bello gave me the slight hope that the film would surpass them... but the truth ended up being the opposite. Surprisingly, the performances from Grillo and Bello feel as insipid and listless as the ones from the rest of the cast, and Will Canon's direction is equally apathetic. The fusion of supernatural and police subjects had potential, but Demonic does it so badly that I felt it like an absolute waste of time, specially because I watched it at the cinema, where I couldn't use the "fast forward" button to minimize the unbearable boredom I felt while I was watching it. On the other hand, "Grillo & Bello" sounds like an excellent name for a restaurant; if they decide to stop acting, both have that good alternative.